The conversion of solar radiation into usable heat at adequate temperatures is the subject of much interest, but, heretofore, has been of relatively limited practical application. The basic technology is not new; however, realization of that technology in the form of commercial hardware has been retarded by the cost of the hardware, and by the cost of solar collector panels in particular. Most collector panels available today use expensive materials, require sophisticated manufacturing techniques available only in highly industrialized countries, and result in an apparatus which often is aesthetically unacceptable. An efficient, attractive, very inexpensive collector which is easily made near or at the sites of use, with low capital investment, and from cheap, common materials by labor of minimum skill is essential to the growth of practical solar heating. The present invention provides such a solar collector.